Nothing yet. My hubby is going to put up a round pen after hunting season (we hunt on our land) and build her a loafing shed. Right now she is on our top 5 acres, it's the only place we have for her to have shelter right now. I hate the idea of her having to stand in the rain. I just go in to the pasture and spend time with her.

First off, do not ever tie a horse to a gate or any other object that is designed to move. Horses rip gates off their hinges and then the trouble begins. Secondly do not try to sack her out if you don't know what you are doing. Someone will get hurt. Find someone in your area who can help you one on one. It's better to let her sit all winter than it is to do the wrong things. If this is not possible sell her or return her to the person who sold her to you.

You need lessons right now if you're going to keep this horse. Horses don't differentiate between men and women that is a cop out for people to excuse the behavior of horses. The chances are that you and your DH are doing something wrong with her. Get lessons ON HER and the problems will probably go away.

i disagree with this completly, i had a horse on loan once and he absolutly hated me, would bite me and not listen to me would rush off and go nuts, never let me lift hooves or bridle but if any man (even one that didnt have a clue tried to do any of these things the horse would just be so good. if i took over half way horse would go nuts, but if a man came back to do it it would be fine. and i am the one that rode and cared for horses for years

i disagree with this completly, i had a horse on loan once and he absolutly hated me, would bite me and not listen to me would rush off and go nuts, never let me lift hooves or bridle but if any man (even one that didnt have a clue tried to do any of these things the horse would just be so good. if i took over half way horse would go nuts, but if a man came back to do it it would be fine. and i am the one that rode and cared for horses for years

Yep. I have witnessed the same thing. To suggest horses are too dumb to know the difference of gender is definitely wrong. They also know people, even if they haven't seen them for years.

Also, I disagree with appyt... don't sell her or give her back just yet, get help from an experienced horse person and you'll be fine. It's how we learn! Don't tie her to anything that isn't stationary though, that is true. And learn how to tie a horse properly, if you haven't already, because you need to tie them so that if something went really wrong you could quickly get them untied...

I think the big thing to remember is that no horse is bombproof. From the sounds of it, if you're all as inexperienced as it sounds, her little snit fit wasn't as major as you're making it sound. I don't mean ANY offense to you whatsoever, it's just that novice horse people are a lot more intimidated by things that experienced horse people laugh at. I don't think there's anything wrong with the mare, and from the sounds of it, you could probably sell her for a decent price if that's your decision because she DOES sound like a good horse, just maybe not quiiiiiite as "beginner" as you were hoping for.

We have a 10 year old Appy X Mustang that's about as bombproof as they come. You can throw anyone on her, she's happy to walk, very easy to ride and virtually unspookable. Regardless, last week we took her and her 4 year old daughter out on the trail (which they haven't seen since spring, and now it's all dead, windy and rustling) and she was spooking the entire way. Nothing major whatsoever, just had her ears strained forward, snorting, prancing a bit, looking all around here. But to a beginner, it would have been TERRIFYING. This is a perfect example of a horse we would sell as completely child safe, and yet she still had a rare moment of "OMG, WASSAT?!?!" They happen, especially when not ridden for awhile or being ridden in strange or scary places.

I'd strongly advise getting a trainer or coach to work with. Even the gentlest of horses did not get that way without hundreds upon thousands of hours of proper work. Yes, some are born naturally docile, but they don't become solid mounts without a ton of proper training. And regardless of how old they are, the training NEVER stops. You may be done "teaching" her things, but she's not so old that she can't forget them in a matter of weeks if she so chooses.

Older horses also have a tendency to fake out their novice owners. Dove does it (she'll shake her head up and down violently and yank the reins out of the riders hands if she doesn't feel like leaving the other horses and knows you can't make her), and my Arab gelding did it (virtually the same thing, he mastered being able to yank and spin in tiny circles to get his way). They're not trying to be mean, they just know they have your number and they know how to scare you into leaving them alone and getting their own way.

Best of luck either way, but please don't count on being able to find the bombproof child safe horse that you can ride once a month with no problems unless it's a 30 year old geriatric Shetland pony with one hoof in the grave. They DO exist, but they're far and few between in comparison to the rest of the equine population.

okay. Yeah, the more ?? that I've had answered the more I realized that I am the one that needs training first not Molly. Let ME get a good foundation then I can benefit her. I am now looking at trainers. I have found a couple close by female trainers that I am going to call. I am getting very excited about learning.

i disagree with this completly, i had a horse on loan once and he absolutly hated me, would bite me and not listen to me would rush off and go nuts, never let me lift hooves or bridle but if any man (even one that didnt have a clue tried to do any of these things the horse would just be so good. if i took over half way horse would go nuts, but if a man came back to do it it would be fine. and i am the one that rode and cared for horses for years

I agree with Bubblegum, My horse Milo definitely is a man's horse and he makes that very clear at times. I won't go into details (stop laughing Tealamutt!) but Milo tends to hate my guts one week out of the month.... They definitely know the difference between testosterone and estrogen as far as I'm concerned.

One thing I didn't find mentioned yet (I scanned, so I apologize if I missed it) but horses need a bit of settling in time. Molly has had her world completely turned upside down and needs a lot of patience while settling in. Her surroundings and people are all new and different and this can be quite scary to a horse. Give her some time to get used to her new home and new routine.

okay. Yeah, the more ?? that I've had answered the more I realized that I am the one that needs training first not Molly. Let ME get a good foundation then I can benefit her. I am now looking at trainers. I have found a couple close by female trainers that I am going to call. I am getting very excited about learning.

Good for you!!! I guarantee your whole family will have a MUCH better experience with even just a little bit of training and a helping hand. Horse ownership can definately get rough, but the number one rule is to realize that 99% of problems stem from us humans, not our horses! You're already realizing it so you're setting yourself up to be an absolutely excellent horse owner!

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.